


The Other Guy

by haldoor



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Angst, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Jealousy, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-24
Updated: 2014-03-28
Packaged: 2018-01-16 20:37:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1360927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/haldoor/pseuds/haldoor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><b>Warnings/Spoilers:</b> None for the show<br/><b>Disclaimer:</b> I don't own anything! Nor do I make money from my wistful imaginings<br/><b>Beta:</b> <span class="ljuser i-ljuser"></span><a class="i-ljuser-profile" href="http://siluria.livejournal.com/profile"><img class="i-ljuser-userhead"/></a><a class="i-ljuser-username" href="http://siluria.livejournal.com/"></a><b>siluria</b> stepped once more into the breach. Any remaining errors are my own<br/><b>Summary:</b> Danny tells Steve what he thinks is a funny story from when he attended Grace's school play. Steve doesn't think it's so funny; in fact, it makes him jealous<br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kaige68](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaige68/gifts).



> Written for my slash twin [](http://kaige68.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://kaige68.livejournal.com/)**kaige68** , who gave me this prompt: _Danny and Stan are out w/ Grace somewhere, idk, it can even be back story that Danny is telling Steve about, and rather than someone thinking that Danny was with Grace's mom, they think Danny was w/ Grace's other Dad. Steve is consumed w/ jealousy, to the point of doing something about it and making a move._ I finally finished it, babe! Hope it's got enough of what you wanted! This also fits with one of my bingo squares for **1_million_words** ' March Bingo: _Rejected_.
> 
> I'm aiming to post one chapter a night until it's done, as long as I have time to, so apologies in advance if everything doesn't go to plan this week.

"So this jerk... I mean, seriously? What the hell did he think?"

"I don't know, Danny; about what?" Steve was only half-listening, relaxing on his lanai after work on a Friday night, as Danny regaled him with a story about some guy who'd been rude to him at the play at Grace's school last week. He sipped from his beer, thinking how glad he was he didn't have to put up with other kids' idiot fathers at school events, and how he was glad he'd probably never be in that position.

Danny gave him a sharp look, but shook his head and continued. "So he asks me if I've been with Grace's _other_ dad for long."

"What?" Steve suddenly got interested in the conversation, wondering if the comment meant what he thought it did.

"You heard me. He thought I was there with _Stan_."

Danny looked more amused than annoyed, but Steve was now having this vision he wasn't sure he wanted to see. "He thought... you? And Stan? That's ridiculous! Rachel was there, wasn't she?"

"She was there, but not within listening distance. But Stan heard... and he started grinning and came closer, slinging an arm around my shoulder and making like it was true." Danny laughed and took a swig from his beer. "So I figured, what the heck?"

"What the heck?" Steve echoed, a light buzz of anger starting to make its presence felt behind his eyes.

"Yeah, I played along. Put my arm around Stan's waist and gazed lovingly at him before telling the guy we'd been sharing a bed for close to three years now."

"You did?" Steve felt himself stiffen at the idea.

"Yeah, and Stan added that it still felt like our honeymoon." Danny seemed oblivious to Steve's growing anger. He was virtually spluttering with laughter as he went on, "You should have seen the guy's face! I've never seen someone so goggle-eyed."

"I don't think that's very funny."

Danny finally looked at Steve, his eyes darkening like Steve's reaction was somehow wrong. "It was hilarious, babe. He couldn't leave quickly enough; dragging his kid along behind him like he thought we'd infect him or something."

Steve dropped his eyes to study his beer, picking at the label as he tried to analyze the annoyance still coursing through him. Stan and Danny? No way, no how, not _ever_.

"So, what's with you? Why doesn't it amuse you as much as it does me?"

There was still a trace of laughter in Danny's voice, and Steve swallowed hard, turning to look at the ocean as he pushed the jealousy-inducing visions from his mind. "I don't know," Steve muttered, tilting the bottle back for more beer. "Seems a bit... much."

"Oh, I get it. You're not comfortable with the idea of a couple of guys joking around like that; maybe one or both of them are dodgy? It was a joke, babe; a joke. The guy was pushing and we put him in his place."

"Dodgy? That's not what I was thinking!"

Danny spread his hands out, a disbelieving look on his face. "You think there was any truth in it?"

"No." Steve bit out the word, unable to meet Danny's eyes. The last thing he really needed to hear was that Danny and Stan were now firm friends due to _that_ kind of shared experience.

Steve could hear Danny swallow more beer. "I never took you for homophobic."

"What?" Steve's eyes jerked up at the words and he felt his face heating up. "I'm not."

Danny stood up, reaching for Steve's empty beer bottle, and said, "S'funny; I never thought it'd faze you, but-"

"Danny..." Steve gripped the wrist of Danny's hand that was holding his bottle. "I'm not," he whispered, slowly raising his eyes. He realized his heart was beating way too fast and that what he was about to do was risky; not to mention the last thing Danny was probably expecting.

Danny held still for seconds that felt like drawn-out minutes to Steve, and blinked owlishly without uttering a word.

"Please?" Steve murmured, dragging Danny closer.

Danny dropped both bottles he'd been holding and let Steve pull him down into his lap. He didn't speak or try to fight it when Steve took his face in both of his hands; he simply stared back at Steve, apprehension filling his eyes. For a moment, Steve looked into them, trying to convey his feelings without speaking; then – before he changed his mind and chickened out completely – he leaned in, holding Danny's face still, and planted a light kiss on his lips.

Abruptly, Danny pulled back and out of his hands, finding his feet and backing away from Steve, horror written across his face.

"Why?" was all he said as he wiped the back of his hand across his lips.

"I'm sorry," Steve got out, standing up too and gesturing unevenly. "I shouldn't have done that." What did Danny think he was going to do when he'd pulled him down? _He_ had let Steve do it; guys didn't usually let another man get that far before pulling away in disgust, and Steve had been the recipient of a black eye before to know that.

"No, you shouldn't have," Danny got out, swallowing hard and staring at Steve like he was a complete stranger. "You never thought to ask first?"

Now Steve was confused. Ask? "What do you mean?"

Danny's expression changed to one of confusion and he held his hands out in question. "What do you mean, what do _I_ mean? Do you always jump in like that? Oh wait, what am I saying?" Danny started pacing. "I've known you three years… and still you manage to completely surprise me after all this time."

He threw Steve an exasperated look as he continued his back and forth on the lanai in front of Steve. "Since when… I mean… this…" He gestured wildly. "You have a girlfriend; _I_ have a girlfriend. 'Crazy' I expect from you, and even the jealousy isn't completely surprising – that was what all the looks were about while I was telling you the story, right?"

Danny didn't wait for Steve to reply; he continued more like he was talking to himself than berating Steve. "But this? A kiss? Jesus, much as it shouldn't completely shock me, what the hell am I supposed to do with it?" He looked at Steve again at last and finally stopped pacing, making a chopping motion with both hands and shaking his head, brows pulled tightly together. "Huh? What?"

Steve licked his lips, trying to work out what exactly he should answer in reply to all of _that_.

"I told you, Catherine's not… my girlfriend," was all he could think of in the end. Crossing his arms across his chest, he frowned back at Danny, uncertain where exactly this left them.

"Jesus, Steve." Danny threw his hands up in the air. "A couple of months ago, even maybe a _year_ ago, had you done something like this, I might have… I don't even know. I should go."

"Don't go… please, Danny!" Steve unfolded his arms and took hold of Danny's arm as he tried to turn away. "Please?"

"I can't… look, Steve, this is… it's crazy, is what it is. It's not that I… don't… haven't… but I just… look, I can't even…!" He wrenched his arm out of Steve's hand and marched off, tossing one last glare back at Steve before he disappeared around the side of the house.

None of what Danny had said made any sense to Steve.

He let him go.

~//~


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this part, it's the day after Steve kissed Danny

Saturday morning, Steve was up early after a night of tossing and turning and going over what Danny had said – or not said – and trying to work out if any of it meant _anything_ near what Steve wanted it to mean. He threw himself into the sea and did double his usual work-out, jogging back along the beach afterward hoping the whole thing would disappear like so much smoke if he was too exhausted to deal with it.

Starving by the time he reached the house, he set the coffee on and headed for the shower. On the way he grabbed his phone. Three texts: one from Catherine and two from Danny. Steve's heart thumped hard at the list, but he went with the easier one first: Catherine.

 _Wanna grab lunch today?_

It was timed ten minutes ago, and Steve took a breath, thinking. It would probably be a good thing to do; get his mind off the huge mistake he'd made with Danny last night. Cath was always good at helping put things in perspective too; maybe he'd even manage to tell her something of what had transpired and she'd help him reason out how bad the whole thing had been and whether it would change things between him and Danny. Thank God she knew Steve jumped the fence occasionally or it would be impossible to say anything.

 _Sure._ he texted back. _I'll pick you up at 12. You decide where._

Now for Danny. What would he have said? Steve stared at his phone unblinking for a few moments before finally checking the messages.

_Tell me you were drunk last night and don't remember what you did?_

Thirty minutes ago. Steve bit at his lip as he scrolled to the second one, somehow disappointed that Danny's first reaction was to aim to forget the whole scene, despite his own similar thoughts.

_OK, so you weren't that drunk. I only wish I had been, then maybe I could forget it. But I can't. How long have you felt that way about me? Why didn't you say something before? We need to talk._

Steve swallowed hard, analyzing the words for hidden meaning. No matter what way Steve read them, he couldn't find any encouragement in them. And Danny had Gabby… what kind of an idiot was Steve to have done that to Danny because of some stupid story that certainly did NOT mean Danny was with Stan, anyway?

Desperate though he was to see Danny – to try to explain how just the _idea_ of Danny with some other guy made Steve white hot with jealousy – he knew it was foolish to even entertain the idea of talking to him right now. No, he'd stick with the plan; talk to Cath, see if her calming influence would help him figure out a way to make it seem like some kind of stupid joke. There hadn't even been tongues involved; Danny could believe what he wanted right now, but Steve would pass it off as something like a dare if he had to, and things could go back to normal between them.

Nodding to himself, Steve typed in _Not today, D. Going out for lunch. Call you later._

He dropped the phone on the bed and hit the shower.

~//~

By the time Steve got out of the bathroom five minutes later, he had six more texts.

Steve frowned at the phone and pulled on some clothes before looking at any of them. Two from Cath first: _Great! Wear shirt & shoes - I know just the place._

Then, less than two minutes later: _Something's come up – I'm needed on base. Sorry, will call u later._

"Shit!" Just what he needed.

The four texts from Danny didn't exactly inspire confidence in him, either. 

The first one just said: _Fine. You do that._

The second was a little more Danny: _You know what? Forget it. Don't bother calling. Just stick your head in the sand and forget it ever happened, OK? Because that's what I'm going to do._

Number three was: _And don't come around here either. I'll be out with Gabby – you remember her? My GIRLFRIEND. ALL DAY._

Steve shook his head and sat down on the bed to read the last one: _Maybe you should go see YOUR GIRLFRIEND too. Her name's Catherine, in case you forgot about her._

Jesus, what in hell was he going to do now?

~//~ 

Steve pottered around the house after he got dressed; eating breakfast and cleaning – his usual Saturday routine when things were quiet. He tried not to think about Danny, but it was hard not to. Several times he almost called him, but worry about Danny being with Gabby and having him hang up as soon as he knew it was Steve made him hesitate.

He went out to the garage and tried to work on the Marquis, but he was missing a part he needed and his heart just wasn't in doing anything about that right now. Cleaning up after giving up on the car, he bit at his lip, thinking. Not a great talker about things that really mattered at the best of times, he knew he had two choices here: find someone to discuss it with, or forget about the whole thing and hope a little time would have both Danny and himself wondering if it had ever happened; then maybe they _could_ forget it and carry on as they had been _before_.

A weird idea started forming in his head and Steve shook his head at himself; the notion was ridiculous. But the more he tried to forget it, the more it felt like it made sense.

Reaching for his phone, Steve dialed Rachel's number.

"Rachel. Hi, it's Steve."

"Hello, Steve." Rachel sounded curious, and then before he could get up the courage to ask anything, she went on, "Is Danny alright?"

"He's fine. Uh… this isn't about him… I… could I speak to Stan, please?"

"Stan? There's nothing I should be concerned about with Stan, is there? No problem with the company?"

"No, Rachel, honestly. This isn't… it's not work-related. I wanted to ask him… for a favor, if you don't mind."

"This isn't going to get him in trouble, is it?" Now Rachel sounded like she was genuinely worried Steve was somehow going to lead her husband astray.

"No, there's nothing to worry about. I just wanted to talk to him about something, that's all."

Steve bit at his lip again, concerned by her watchdog questioning and somewhat in awe of her protectiveness.

"If you're sure…" she said, not sounding at all certain herself. "I'll get him for you."

Taking a deep breath, Steve closed his eyes, running his free hand over them as he tried to slow his racing heart. Was Stan the wrong person to talk to after all? Maybe this was a mistake.

"Hello, Steve. What can I do for you?"

It was too late to back out now. They would both think he was crazy if he changed his mind at this point. "I was hoping… would you meet me for a… coffee? It's a little early for beer, I guess. I need someone to…" Steve paused, taking another deep breath before finally getting it out, "Someone that isn't Danny to ask about something."

Stan's huffed reply was more of a relief than Steve had expected. "No problem. Where shall we meet?"

After giving Stan the name of a coffee shop halfway between their homes that he seemed to recognize, they agreed to meet there in half an hour. Steve only hoped this wouldn't turn out to be as big a mistake as what he'd allowed to happen with Danny.

~//~


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this part, Steve gets some surprising insight from Stan

"Steve." Stan held out a hand to shake Steve's as he stood up from the booth he'd been occupying as he waited for Rachel's husband to arrive.

"Thanks for coming," Steve told him with a tight smile, indicating that Stan should sit down.

A waitress appeared at his shoulder in seconds and took Stan's order. Steve already had a cup of coffee steaming in front of him, and he added cream and sugar as they waited for the waitress to come back with Stan's latte. 

"I have to admit, I'm curious to know what you can't talk to Danny about," Stan started as soon as the woman had left the table.

Steve's smile wavered, but he nodded, swallowing some coffee to calm his nerves. "Look, this is… it's not something I want spread around. I'd rather you didn't say anything to anyone; not even Rachel."

"I can't promise that until I know what it's about," Stan told him, his brows creasing in concern. "Is something wrong with Danny?"

Steve shook his head, rubbing his palms against his cargoes and then placing both hands back on the table. He met Stan's eyes with difficulty. "He told me about that run-in you had with some kid's father at Grace's school play last week."

Stan frowned and then laughed briefly. "That guy who thought Danny and I were together?"

Nodding, Steve dropped his eyes to his coffee cup and wrapped both hands around it. "I got jealous," he muttered.

Stan didn't say anything for a moment, and Steve stole a look at his face, confused as to the lack of reaction. Stan's mouth was slightly open and he was studying Steve like his words had been in a foreign language.

Taking another long breath, Steve forged on, his eyes having trouble holding Stan's and slipping away again. "I didn't like the _idea_ of him with another guy, even if it was a joke."

"You?" Stan got out, and added in a disbelieving tone, "You're in love with Danny?"

Steve's eyes flew back to Stan's face. "I didn't say that. But I… I kissed him."

"Jesus." Stan covered his mouth with a hand and turned his eyes to look out the window. "You took quite a risk. How did Danny react?" He managed to look back at Steve.

Steve couldn't see anything but sympathy in his eyes. "He freaked out, as would any straight guy, I suppose. I've never discussed my…" Steve licked his lips, looking away as heat suffused his skin. "I've never told him I'm into guys as well as women."

"Yeah, well, it might have helped if you had."

"I think he knew about me anyway."

"He did? So you… you must have had some idea whether you were pushing things a little far?"

Steve gulped from his coffee again, nodding. "I thought… he didn't exactly fight me until my lips were on his."

"Wow… okay. And then he freaked?"

"Yeah. But… some of what he was saying… or trying to say… I'm confused."

Stan blinked, and sipped from his latte.

"What?" Steve asked, frowning.

"I'm guessing that's not something you admit a lot."

Steve shook his head, but before he could speak, the waitress arrived back at their table.

"Everything okay here, gentlemen? You need a top up?" She held a coffee pot poised to add to Steve's cup.

"No thanks," he got out, shaking his head and exchanging a nervous smile with Stan.

"I'm fine, thank you," Stan told the woman and she smiled at him before moving on.

Steve let out the breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. 

"Why did you want to talk to _me_ about this?" Stan asked, tilting his head in curiosity. "I mean, what made you think I wouldn't freak too?"

"The fact that you're the one who started the whole joke. I mean, if you weren't okay with homosexuality, you'd hardly put your arm around Danny's shoulder and act like you were his lover."

Stan shrugged and picked up his cup. "True, I suppose. In all honesty, I happen to think love is love, and as long as you're both consenting adults there's no harm. Does that help?"

"It does, actually," Steve said, surprised at how easy Stan was to talk to. Stan was being far more relaxed about this than Steve had been feeling about any of it. "It's not that I go there a lot…"

"But you like Danny and… he seemed… how should I put it, receptive?"

"Yeah, exactly. But now, I think I may have ruined a perfectly good friendship."

"Maybe not. When you said he didn't exactly fight you, I'm assuming there was more to it than just you unexpectedly grabbing him and planting one on him?"

Nodding, Steve turned his coffee cup in a circle before lifting it for another sip. "I took hold of his wrist, looked into his eyes and slowly pulled him into my lap." It felt weird to be saying it out loud, but Stan didn't appear to be judging; he looked at Steve thoughtfully and listened without interrupting. "He let me, and then…" Steve's eyes clouded as he remembered the way Danny had looked back at him. "I held his face in my hands and looked at him for a minute. Then I kissed him – lightly; no tongues."

Stan smiled uneasily, but nodded. "That doesn't sound like the way most guys would react in that situation. No wonder you're confused."

"So I'm not crazy?"

"That's still to be determined," Stan laughed lightly and reached a hand to grasp Steve's briefly before letting go and drinking more coffee. "So what did he say, exactly?"

Steve closed his eyes to recall. "Nothing, really. A lot of half sentences that I couldn't make head or tail of."

"Sounds like he's confused too. Maybe you should talk to _him_ about all this; see if there's a way through."

"I want to, but he… he wants to forget about it." Steve studied his hands playing with the coffee cup, weariness filling him all of a sudden.

"He said that?"

"He took off last night afterward; he texted me this morning." Steve lifted his eyes to meet a dubious look on Stan's face. "What?"

"Danny isn't the forgetting type, and from what you're saying…"

"You think I should… go talk to him?"

"Don't you think so?"

"He's with Gabby; his girlfriend." Steve knew he sounded despondent. This whole thing was ridiculous; even talking this out with Stan seemed crazy now; like he was a love-struck cheerleader who had to hash out all the ins and outs of why the quarterback wasn't asking her to the prom – except Steve had been the quarterback, and Danny was far from being a cheerleader.

There was another half-laugh from Stan and Steve met his eyes again, tilting a brow in question. 

"You haven't considered that Danny having a girlfriend is half the reason for his freak-out, have you?"

"You think?"

"Seriously, Steve?" Stan gave him an incredulous look. "Did he mention her at all?"

"Several times. Reminded me that I supposedly have a girlfriend too."

"Do you?"

Steve thought about that for a moment, aware of Stan's scrutiny. "I have been seeing Catherine on and off for a while, but I don't really think of her as my girlfriend."

"How does Catherine see it? Danny? Other people?"

Steve chewed at his lip. Stan had a point. "I guess most people would probably say we were a couple."

"It sounds to me like you need to decide exactly what _you_ want, Steve. Regarding your relationships with Catherine _and_ Danny. Because you know you can't have both of them. Not like this." Stan shook his head and put down his cup. "I've been in that situation and it just doesn't work."

Steve's eyes flew to Stan's in surprise. "You have?"

Stan huffed. "You weren't wrong about me. Shortly after I finished college, I was in a relationship with this woman, and… well, it's not something I've admitted much… but her brother was very like her. I kind of… developed an attraction for him. Got a little more curious than might be considered 'normal' for a straight guy. He reciprocated the feeling and we… explored that for a while."

Steve nodded, seeing the remembered pain in Stan's eyes, and his respect for the guy increased a little.

"It got more than a little messy towards the end. You can't just… play with people like that and not expect a few shocks. It wasn't intentional and I liked both of them a lot, but… I couldn't give either of them what they wanted and neither of them were... I didn't love either of them enough to try to keep anything going when it all came out in the open. Probably just as well, considering they were siblings." He allowed himself a laugh, and Steve could hear the bitterness in it. 

Steve watched as a shiver ran through Stan and then he seemed to pull himself out of the memory. "So what I'm saying, Steve, is that you probably need to make some decisions yourself; work out if Danny or Catherine is more important to you – or neither of them, if that's how it works out – and then deal with the situation from there. You can't just keep fooling yourself into believing no one will get hurt."

Looking out the window to watch a bird fly by, Steve let his eyes lose focus for a second. It was good advice, but was there any point in setting things straight with Danny and Catherine if there was no future in what he wanted?

Stan drank the last of his coffee and put down his cup noisily, causing Steve to look at him again. His eyes held sympathy. "The sooner you make things right, the easier it will be to go on," he told Steve. "If Danny is interested in a relationship with you, he'll find a way to end it with Gabby, but he should know how you feel, if that's where your heart lies."

Steve nodded silently, impressed by Stan's no-nonsense advice. He'd had no idea how _right_ this meeting had been; how Stan had exactly the right experience to understand what Steve was going through, but he was glad now he'd made the effort to talk to him.

They both stood up and Steve threw some bills on the table as Stan reached for his wallet. "No, it's on me, Stan. You've been more help than you know."

"Thank you," Stan lowered his head in gratitude and they walked to the door together.

Outside, Steve turned to Stan and held out a hand. "Thank _you_. I've got some serious thinking to do. I'll let you know how it goes."

"I'd like that. And Steve…"

"Yes?"

"Don't worry; I'm not about to discuss this with Rachel. You asked me not to tell anyone, and I won't."

Steve nodded gratefully and then smiled as something occurred to him. "She doesn't know about your two-timing with the brother and sister, does she?"

Stan held out his hands. "You got me. I know a lot of couples tell each other everything, and while Rachel's not homophobic, she is understandably cautious about situations like that – the two-timing more specifically than the bisexuality – and I didn't want her to think it's something that's likely to happen again. It's not – or at least as much as I know about myself, I think it's unlikely."

"Thank you for being so honest with me, Stan; you didn't have to tell me about it."

Stan patted Steve's shoulder awkwardly. "You admitted something very intimate to me in order to solicit my advice; it's the least I could do when it was relevant to your situation."

"I'll keep it to myself."

"I wasn't worried that you wouldn't." Stan indicated over his shoulder. "My car's this way."

Steve pointed across the street in the opposite direction. "Mine's there. Thanks again, Stan."

"Any time, Steve." Stan smiled once more, and then turned to walk in the direction he'd indicated.

Steve watched him for a second, thinking how little he understood about people on the whole, but pleased that he'd made this overture, considering how much more sensible the advice had been than Danny would have given Stan credit for. Nodding to himself, he headed for his own car.

~//~


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this part, Steve makes some decisions, and has a conversation with Catherine

Steve managed to get through the rest of the day without feeling too anxious – Stan's advice had set him thinking and he knew now that what he really wanted – beyond any doubt – was Danny. He'd barely had to consider the alternative, and much as he didn't want to hurt Cath, he knew that his heart wouldn't let him push the possibility with Danny away without making a proper attempt to be with him.

But he needed to let Danny have some space before he talked to him again, and more importantly, he had to come clean with Cath. While she knew he'd been with men before, she undoubtedly considered the relationship between the two of them as something more than he had been treating it. A part of him was apprehensive about discussing his true feelings, but Stan was right; if he let things continue – even if he never did develop the kind of relationship with Danny that he knew he wanted – she would get hurt, and in a worse way than him being honest would do at this juncture.

Later that afternoon, he was putting his gun away after cleaning it, and was considering calling Cath when his cell-phone went. Swallowing deeply as he wiped his hands and picked it up, he felt a knot of nervousness ball in his stomach.

"Hey Cath; you done?"

"Yeah, finally managed to get away. I'm about to head home. Sorry about lunch. You want to get some dinner tonight?"

"No problem; you were needed. I had things to do anyway. Dinner sounds good, but… can I cook for you here?

There was a pause, and then she asked, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I just… I need to talk to you and a restaurant doesn't seem like the best place for it."

"Okay." She sounded vaguely suspicious but she didn't ask any more questions about his motives or what he wanted to talk to her about. "You sure you cooking is a good idea?"

"I'm not that bad a cook," he protested with a grin. "You ate the last steak I put in front of you."

"I did," she agreed. He could almost hear her smile. "Okay, steaks and salad? I'll bring some wine."

"Great. Come over when you're ready." He glanced at his watch. "It's a little after five now; I'll get the grill going about seven."

"I look forward to it," Cath said softly, "See you soon."

Steve breathed out slowly as he cut off the connection and put the phone down, thinking. He hoped she wasn't expecting something he wasn't about to deliver; he knew her well enough to know she suspected something was up, but she couldn't know what it was. A pang of guilt went through him as he made his way into the kitchen to check he had the food he needed in the fridge, but he told himself this was the right thing to do; it had to be.

~//~

Opening the door with what he hoped was not too practiced a smile, Steve took in the way Cath was dressed and leaned in to offer her a kiss. "You look gorgeous; come in."

"Thank you. The wine, Commander." She held the bottle out and smiled at him, hope shining in her brown eyes.

She couldn't be thinking… Steve wouldn't let himself believe anything serious was in her manner; this would be too hard otherwise.

He thanked her as he took the bottle from her and led her through to the kitchen to open it. He poured two glasses and handed her one. "You want to sit outside? It's not seven yet; I'll fire up the grill in a while."

She smiled and nodded, and they went to sit down in the late afternoon sun. It was still warm, but a light breeze cooled his skin. Steve's heart was thumping and he wasn't sure how easy this was going to be.

"So what did they need you for at the base?" he asked, hoping a little small talk would make steering the conversation towards what he needed to say easier.

"Classified, I'm afraid," Cath told him, apology in her eyes. "But I can say that it really didn't need me specifically. Not that my commanding officer was going to say that once he'd dragged me in there." 

"Right." Steve gave her a smile and looked away. She didn't deserve this; had never deserved what he was about to put her through. He shouldn't have led her on for so long. Guilt did odd things to a man. "Listen…" He met her eyes again.

Cath licked her lips and spoke before he could form any words. "I get the feeling this isn't good."

"Is it that obvious?" he asked, gulping from his wine and then putting the glass down to take one of her hands.

"I know you, Steve, and this could have been about something really good or about something really bad. I wasn't sure until I got here; your face says it all. In all honesty, it's a relief that it's not the opposite end of things, because I'm not sure how I would have answered."

Steve blinked, looking at her in shock. "You thought… you aren't?"

"I have my career; you have yours. I'm not ready for… a commitment like… dare I say it, since it's obviously not what this is about?"

Relief flooded Steve, and he managed a smile, though the thought of what he did want to tell her sobered him soon enough. "I get that, and no, don't say it. I'm not ready either. That's why…" 

He took a breath, letting her hand go and picking up his wine as he stood up to face the sea. This still wasn't going to be easy. Even if they were both on the same page about things getting more serious, it didn't necessarily follow that she was ready to end things between them.

"You want to break up."

It wasn't a question, and Steve turned to look at Cath in surprise, stunned that she'd intuited so much of this. She couldn't possibly know _everything_ , even though he'd considered discussing the Danny thing with her yesterday. It had been a long time since he'd done anything with another guy, and she probably thought he'd left all that behind him.

"Cath, I…"

"You've never made any promises to me, Steve. Things have been… good; easy, I suppose, but never mind-blowing. I always knew that." She stood up too and came to take hold of his hand again, sipping her wine and then tilting her head in question. "For me too. I love you – you have to know that – but… there was always some kind of spark missing." She squeezed the fingers she held. "Have you met someone else?"

Steve licked his lips, his throat going dry and his heart speeding up. "Are you really okay with this?"

She lifted her eyebrows and quirked a half-smile. "I guess I thought we'd carry on as we are for a little longer, but… if there's a chance you could find what you're looking for with someone else, it'd be wrong for me to hold you back."

"I just… look, it's not like anything's happened – well, not really – it's the _possibility_ of something, and I… I didn't want to make things difficult for you." He frowned at her, still not entirely convinced she wouldn't be hurting after this.

Cath nodded, patting their joined hands, and let him go, moving away to look out over the water as she sipped more wine. "Are you going to tell me about her?"

Her use of the female pronoun made his heart stutter. He couldn't in all good conscience keep this from her; not if he wanted to be as honest as he always expected her to be – her holding things back in recent times notwithstanding.

"It isn't a 'her'."

Cath spun her head to look at him, her pretty eyes widening. "Seriously? I thought… I mean, not that it's a problem for me, but… you told me you hadn't done anything like that in years."

"I haven't. This is… it's not even…" He licked his lips again, making his way over to the grill and putting his glass down in order to fire it up. "You still want to stay for dinner? I'd understand if you didn't, but I hope…"

"Oh, Steve." 

Cath followed him, placing her own glass down and wrapping herself around him. For a moment he didn't know how to respond, but then he held her against his body, recognizing the hug for the comfort it was.

"I wondered on occasion, you know, but I just thought… _we_ weren't right for each other. I never realized that for you, maybe this was why."

"I don't think it is why. I like both men _and_ women, Cath." He pulled back and looked into her eyes, feeling less worried about her now. "But you can't help who you have feelings for."

Her expression deepened. "You have 'feelings' for this guy? Do you mean you're in love with him? Like you never were with me?"

He let her go and reached for his glass once more. "That's not fair, Cath. I do love you, but just not… like I should if we're supposed to be a couple. And I don't know how I feel about him. I… I don't even know if…" He scrubbed his free hand through his hair and gestured at the grill. " _Should_ I bother? You probably don't even want to stay."

Cath looked at him sadly. "I know you love me, Steve, but…" She nodded. "Light the grill. I can see you need to talk, and what are friends for?"

"You're sure?" He found it hard to believe that the woman who'd obviously considered him more than a 'thing' could be so easy about breaking up, _and_ willing to listen to him talk about the man he was breaking up with her for.

"I wouldn't say it otherwise. Why don't you get that going while I go freshen up our glasses? We can talk properly once the food is ready." 

Between them, they managed to get dinner cooked and served without too much awkwardness, and were sitting down to eat at the outdoor table when Catherine smiled meaningfully at Steve.

"Are you going to tell me who it is?" she asked.

Steve knew exactly what she meant, and he hesitated, knife poised ready to cut into his steak as his heart began to thump. "I don't know if I should; it's not like I've started dating him yet. Things… things are complicated and he may not even be interested."

Cath dropped her eyes as she sliced into her own steak. "It's someone I know, isn't it?"

Blinking at her astuteness, he nodded as she looked back up at him, but said nothing. He began eating slowly, concentrating on the food as if that would sway her from asking more questions.

She finished a mouthful and put her cutlery down, reaching for her wine. "The steak is good. 

"Steve, it's obvious I have to know him if you won't tell me his name. A first name gives away nothing unless it's a familiar one."

"I… look, this crept up on me and I wouldn't even be thinking of going there after what happened, but for some advice someone gave me."

"Why don't you start at the beginning? Tell me what happened." She waved a hand at his look of fear. "Leave out the names; just give me the main points."

Nervously at first, but increasingly relaxing as Cath smiled and didn't get upset or angry, Steve outlined what had happened the night before, omitting names and some facts that would have given away too much, and then told her some of what Danny had said that had confused him. By the time he'd finished admitting how he'd talked to someone earlier and it had made him think about what he really wanted, they were finished eating and Cath was looking at him with wistful eyes.

"Don't… give me that look," he told her, reaching for the wine bottle on the table between them to top both of their glasses up.

"No more for me," Cath said, "I still have to drive home. And the look is because… I'm just… I'm glad you told me. It took courage to admit something so difficult to yourself, let alone someone else, and then to be so upfront with me so quickly."

"I do love you in my own way; you know that?" 

Cath nodded, her smile growing warmer as she gazed at him across the table. 

"I didn't want to hurt you any more than I already have," he confessed.

She shook her head gently. "You haven't hurt me, Steve. I guess I always knew this day would come. Don't worry; I don't mean that I knew you'd confess your feelings for a _man_ to me! Just that one of us would find some reason – some _one_ – to make us realize that we weren't going to end up together forever. It was inevitable."

"I can't believe you're being this understanding."

"Can you honestly say you'd be any different if I told you I was interested in someone else?"

Steve searched inside himself – it wasn't as hard now as it might have been – and shook his head. "You're right."

"So…" She took a breath and spread her hands in question. "What's your plan of attack?"

"Plan of 'attack'? You think I'm just going to jump him?"

"I'm not saying that, but knowing you, you have no idea how to deal with your attraction other than to corner him and hope like hell he'll respond, then maybe he'll dump G- uh… his girlfriend and leap into your bed."

Steve met her eyes at the slip and found himself blushing hard. "You know who it is, don't you?"

"Oh, Steve; I'd be blind not to have worked it out." 

Her voice was soft and her eyes kind, but Steve couldn't help his embarrassment. "I… I don't know how I feel about you knowing. It's bad enough I made the mistake of kissing him like that…"

"I know, but you don't have to be embarrassed about it, Steve. I would say this: from his response to what you did, it doesn't sound like he's completely against the idea; it's more your timing he objects to."

"So what do you think I should do?"

"Give him time. Don't crowd him. I know that goes against everything in your make-up, but in all seriousness, Steve, Danny cares about you too – I can see it in his eyes every time you're together." She glanced away briefly and Steve wasn't sure if he imagined the glint of tears in her eyes before she met his again. "You have to let him know you didn't do what you did on the spur of the moment as much as it appeared; tell him how much you care and let him work his own way around that – in his own time."

Steve snorted quietly, a smile spreading. "Stan gave me more or less the same advice."

"Stan? Rachel's husband? _He_ was the other guy in your story? The one that someone thought Danny was with?"

"Yeah, actually. How'd you work that out?"

"Why else would you have been asking him for advice? As it happens, it's very good advice. I hope you'll take it."

Steve studied the honesty in her eyes, amazed by her generosity. "You're a very wise woman, Catherine Rollins."

"Thank you. I just hope that some of my wisdom brushes off on you when you talk to Danny."

"I'll do my best not to fuck it up."

Catherine laughed and he joined in, unable to remain downhearted when she'd been so accepting of the situation. Talking to Danny was not going to be easy, but Catherine and Stan were right – pushing Danny at this point would probably not gain him the result he wanted.

And he wasn't about to give up now.

~//~


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this part, Steve tries to talk to Danny, but things don't go quite as planned

Steve slept better on Saturday night; his talk with Catherine had obviously helped. He still woke early on Sunday, but that was fairly normal for him. He hadn't heard anything more from Danny since the texts on Saturday morning, and while that made him wary of initiating contact, especially considering what he knew he needed to say to Danny, he also knew he couldn't leave it too long before dealing with it or he'd just chicken out. There was no telling what would take place if he did that and they both pretended Friday had never happened.

By the time he'd had his early morning swim and eaten breakfast, he had just about worked out what he'd say to Danny, and was picking up his phone to call him when there was a knock at his door.

Never for one second considering that it could be Danny, Steve cursed softly as he replaced his phone from where he'd picked it up and moved to answer it.

"I just gotta say one thing to you, McGarrett," Danny began, walking in past Steve without even looking at him properly.

Steve couldn't think what to respond and simply stood there, watching as Danny started pacing back and forth, gesturing as only he could as he spoke. "Don't say anything. Not one word. You just listen to me this time, and I will explain to you why a man does not do to his best buddy… what you did on Friday night."

Steve closed the door and turned back, gesturing for Danny to enlighten him, and frowned as he crossed his arms and stood still to listen to whatever it was that Danny had to say.

Danny finally looked at Steve, though he appeared to be having trouble doing so, and then turned away again just as quickly. "Look, no matter how close we get, there is a line that shouldn't be crossed. You crossed it, my friend, and once that happens there is no forgetting. I thought I could, but I just… I can't forget it." 

"Is that," Steve began tentatively, unsure if he was reading the situation correctly, "because you can't _forgive_ me for kissing you, or because you don't _want_ to forget it?"

"How… I mean… what?" Danny stopped pacing at last and stared straight at Steve like he was crazy. "Why would I _not_ want to forget it?"

Steve snorted softly and looked down his nose at Danny, sure he'd hit the crux of the matter. "More importantly, why would you want to remember it?"

Danny held his hands out wide. "Are you kidding me? You arrogant son of a bitch. You think I _wanted_ you to kiss me? Jesus, Steve, I thought we were friends, but this? You didn't just cross a line-"

"Cut the bullshit, Danny," Steve interrupted, moving closer. "You _let_ me pull you close. You even let me kiss you." Danny recoiled slightly at the last words, but Steve pushed on regardless. "What else were you expecting, Danny? You know what? I was going to apologize to you today; tell you that I care about you more than just as a best friend, but that I shouldn't have done what I did. Tell you I know I should have talked to you first; made you aware of how I felt before I pushed something like that on you. But that was before you came at me in anger and expected me to believe you honestly didn't have any idea what I was going to do when I took hold of you and pulled you into my lap."

Danny blustered as he backed up a step. "No! I did not… there's no way-"

"Bullshit!" Steve advanced as Danny backed up a step. "Don't give me that crap! You know, if you'd come here like a friend and asked me what was going on, maybe I would accept that you didn't understand, but I know you, Danny, and this is your way of deflecting."

"Deflecting?" Danny looked half indignant and half scared.

"Oh yeah, babe. You…" He pointed at Danny. "You are so damned scared that you feel the same way as I do that you can't do anything except deny it to yourself and go on the offensive in the hope that I will back off before you fall into something you're afraid you'll like."

"That… that is so not true." Danny couldn't meet his eyes again, and Steve knew he'd hit the nail squarely on the head. Danny would have had a way better argument for Steve's words if he didn't know the truth of them deep in his heart.

"Yeah?" Steve quirked a lip, though he was far from amused by now. "Well then, if it's not true, you go home. Call Gabby and have her come over. I dare you not to think about me at all while you're kissing her."

Danny shook his head, frowning. "Maybe I will."

Steve let out a low laugh, backing away. This was so not how this conversation was supposed to have gone. "Maybe you'll kiss her and _not_ think about me, or maybe you _will_ think of me and it won't matter?"

This time Danny blinked and licked at his lips like he didn't know the right answer to that. It took him a moment to form an answer, but when he did, the words were low and strained. "Fuck it, Steve, this is so not fair."

"Fair? You want it to be fair? It didn't seem fair to me when I wanted to love Catherine but my heart insisted that someone else fitted there. Shit, Danny, do whatever you want." Steve threw up his hands and turned away, overcome with the unfairness of every damned thing about this.

"Okay," Steve heard Danny say, and then he heard him crossing the room and the door opening.

"Just so you know," Danny said from the doorway, but Steve didn't turn. "I thought a lot about why I let you kiss me, but I just… I can't go there, Steve. I have Gabby and you have Catherine… I've never… I just… I can't."

"I broke up with Catherine last night," Steve said, glancing briefly over his shoulder. "I told her the truth and she… knew who I was talking about before I told her it was you. If she could see it, not just in me, but in _you_ , don't you think it's worth a shot? Maybe you could think about that when you're thinking about how fair this is."

Steve wanted to turn around, but he was too scared of what he might see in Danny's eyes. He heard him take a breath and then let it out again slowly.

"I just can't, Steve."

The door clicked shut and Steve finally turned around, cursing silently to the empty room.

~//~ 

Steve was just finishing up his dinner when his phone rang. Unexpectedly, it was work, and he had to pull his focus in from where his mind had been and call the rest of the team to gather to look at a body that showed signs of being an execution-style killing.

Understandably, Danny was curt as he picked up the phone, but Steve ignored that and told him where to meet and what they were being called in for, abruptly cutting off the call as he strode out to his truck and headed for the crime scene.

As he drove, he felt apprehensive about seeing Danny while they were feeling so antagonistic towards each other, but he shook off the feeling to focus on the job, deciding that it was probably a good thing they had to work now; he at least could ignore the situation and do what needed to be done.

He only hoped Danny could do the same.

~//~

It was after one AM by the time they decided to call it a night on the investigation; the immediate clues they'd found at the scene hadn't led far, and the body wasn't about to go anywhere – Max had given them preliminary findings and would complete a full autopsy the next day – and as their John Doe's ID was proving difficult, it seemed unlikely they were going to get much further with things overnight.

As Steve gave the team the word to head out, Chin tipped his head, subtly asking Steve to remain behind as Kono and Danny headed out.

"Everything okay with you and Danny, brah?"

Steve blinked, taken aback that Chin had discerned anything of what was going on between them from the night's activities. He didn't think he'd treated Danny in any way that would raise any kind of suspicion, but maybe they had been distant enough that Chin's finely-tuned radar had picked it up.

"Everything's cool, Chin," he assured the man. There was no way he wanted to get into any of this with a third person, despite how differently things were currently sitting than he wanted. Steve knew if he was going to talk to anyone about this, it would probably have to be either Catherine, Stan, or – as unlikely as it felt right now – Danny himself.

"You sure, Steve? Only… maybe I'm reading it wrong, but Danny's usual sarcasm was distinctly missing tonight, and you definitely weren't pushing his buttons in quite your usual manner, despite several openings."

"Jesus, Chin, it's late on a Sunday night, we all got dragged away from things we'd probably rather be doing; don't turn into an agony aunt for no reason, okay? Because I doubt Danny would appreciate it, and I sure as hell don't need it." He knew he was glaring, but the anger he wanted to direct towards Danny needed an outlet. Unfortunately, Chin was in the firing line.

Chin held up both hands. "Sorry, brah. If I'm out of line, I apologize. But… I'm here if you need an ear." He backed up and turned to leave, waving a hand casually at his shoulder without looking back.

Steve deflated at the caring evident in the words, but Chin had disappeared out the door before he managed to find any words of apology.

~//~


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this final part, Steve and Danny have another conversation eventually, and things are resolved

It was three days later before Steve and the team could do much other than concentrate on solving the murder. He'd been much more aware of Danny's remoteness, and – because of Chin's words that Sunday night – equally cognizant of Chin's observant eyes resting on each of them during the course of the investigation. 

Somehow they managed to perform the necessary tasks without speaking about the distance between them, but since Steve had avoided being alone with Danny for any length of time it wasn't surprising. By pairing himself with Chin, and Danny with Kono whenever they needed two of them for anything, he'd circumvented any possible conversations he didn't want to have. He knew that Chin's previous words to him on the subject meant the man would wait for Steve to begin any interaction on the subject, and he was confident that Danny wouldn't bring anything up in front of either of the others. 

Once everything was wrapped up, Steve let Chin and Kono go home and took a breath in preparation of speaking to Danny. He couldn't let it go on like this. By the time he'd walked across the room to Danny's office, his heart was thumping hard.

Danny looked up from his desk as Steve stopped in the doorway, his eyes narrowing when he saw who it was.

"Can we stop doing this?" Steve asked, frowning in exasperation. "Look, you… you tell yourself whatever you need to, Danny, but I can't… I need… I-"

Danny stood up, holding up a hand to stop Steve's words. "Before you say anything else, I have something I want to say."

Hope dug into Steve's heart and he nodded, nervous.

"I could punch you right now."

The hope fled like water draining out of a tub, and Steve folded his arms across his chest, steeling himself for whatever ludicrous explanation Danny was going to offer to expand on his statement. The chance that they could rebuild anything like their former friendship was starting to seem as remote as the relationship Steve really wanted.

Danny licked at his lip, shaking his head and snorting before he finally looked back at Steve. "You were right; I couldn't kiss Gabby without thinking about you. It got to the point where I couldn't kiss her again. And you know what?" He didn't give Steve time to ask before continuing, "I realized it didn't bother me nearly as much as it should have. And she knew that too."

Steve didn't have a clue what to say, nor could he fathom where this was heading. He frowned, biting at the corner of his lip, but said nothing.

"She broke up with me, Steve. Two days ago. And I don't miss her like I should." 

Danny had that earnest look on his face that said he had more to say, but was waiting for Steve to put in the appropriate offers of sympathy. Much as he didn't have a clue about romance or sensitivity most of the time, Steve had realized enough this time to know that things were not going to get any easier for him right now if he didn't say what Danny wanted to hear.

"I'm sorry. I didn't… mean to-"

"That, my friend, is a lie, and we both know it. You meant to break us up so that maybe you'd stand a chance at taking her place."

There was nothing Steve could say to contradict that.

Danny's smile widened and he pushed both hands in his pockets. "Not gonna deny it, huh? That's about what I expected." 

Steve spread both hands. "Look, Danny, I have no idea what you want me to say right now. I'm sorry you broke up with Gabby, and I'm sorry I thought you and I would be good together; most of all, I'm sorry that we aren't going to be able to forget all this and just go back to where we were before I made the mistake of kissing you." He started to back up, the disappointment so palpable he could almost taste it.

"Don't…" Danny got out, and Steve furrowed his brow at the look on Danny's face, confused as to what he was trying to say.

Danny cleared his throat and took a step towards Steve. "I've been fooling myself, haven't I?"

Steve studied his face for a second before asking, "In what way?"

Danny looked away, a tight smile on his face, and then met Steve's eyes again. "I can't do this."

"What _this_? I don't understand."

"I can't let you just walk out. Your face…" Danny blinked hard, like he was holding back tears, but Steve didn't think that could be it. "Every time you look at me, there's this look… and then, when I tell you I'm not… I can't… you get this whole other look, and it makes me… I just…" Danny's hand covered his mouth and he dropped his eyes away, shaking his head slowly as he stood there, the words left hanging.

Steve moved closer instinctively, to offer some form of comfort; he couldn't _not_ , despite Danny's rejection. "I'm sorry, Danny; what can I do to help?"

Danny finally let go of his face. His next move was so unexpected, so completely not what Steve had imagined was going to happen that he simply stood still and stiff as Danny wrapped arms around him and pressed himself into Steve's chest. 

"I want you," was all Danny said, his voice muffled against Steve's shirt.

"What? You want me to what?" Steve asked, finally responding by returning the hug, although he still didn't quite understand why Danny was hugging him.

Danny pushed back, half-laughing and half-crying. "That's so damned typical of you, isn't it? I finally admit _exactly_ what you've been hoping to hear and you completely misunderstand. Come here, you stupid big lunk! I don't want you to _do_ anything; I just want _you_."

Steve was sure his eyes were probably as round as saucers for a minute, but then he finally got with the program and pulled Danny back in, his lips finding Danny's and kissing him for all he was worth.

It was some minutes later before they pulled apart, and they were both breathing pretty heavily. Steve ran his hands over Danny's face, still too scared to believe that this was really happening.

"You look like you're about to cry," Danny grinned. "Please don't, because that's really not what I was hoping we'd do next."

Steve nodded, too overcome to deny it, but he swallowed and blinked, wrapping around Danny again, savoring the warm strength of finally having Danny in his arms. Finally he managed a few words. "What were you hoping we'd do next, Danno?"

Danny snorted as they moved apart again. "Tell me there's no one at your place to disturb us and I'll tell you on our way there." He reached to switch off his computer and grabbed his keys, tugging Steve out of the room by one hand.

Steve could barely keep the grin from splitting his face in two.

~//~

"And here," Steve told Danny, some thirty minutes later, as he unbuttoned Danny's shirt and planted a kiss where his lips met skin. "Here too," he said a few seconds later as he pushed the shirt away from Danny's torso and kissed at the line of his trousers.

They were on Steve's bed, Danny lying on his back with Steve kneeling over him and offering insight – with practical demonstrations – on exactly which parts of Danny he'd imagined kissing once he got the man naked.

"Okay, that's… that's ticklish," Danny almost squeaked out, struggling to remove his shirt the rest of the way while Steve concentrated on his belt buckle.

"Ah-ha," Steve grinned, unzipping and beginning to pull the pants down his legs. "Good to know."

"Just…." Danny looked worried as he put a hand to Steve's chin. "Babe?"

Steve stopped what he was doing and looked at Danny, aware that things had suddenly become serious again. "Yeah?"

"I haven't… this is… it's been years since I did anything like this."

"It's okay, Danny. I get it, but you don't have to worry; I'm not gonna ask for anything you're not ready for."

"Okay." Danny's reply was quiet but he smiled, and Steve shifted back up beside him on the bed, offering him a chaste kiss.

"We don't have to do this right now, you know. We could wait; take some more time to talk-"

Danny reached for him, pulling him back in and offering the dirtiest wet kiss of the night so far. "You think I would have got this far if I wanted to _talk_? Babe, keep doing what you were doing; just because I'm not as experienced as you, and I haven't been near another guy for close to fifteen years does not mean I want to stop now."

"Thank God for that," Steve let out, relieved, and slid back down the bed to remove the rest of Danny's clothes before discarding his own in double-quick time.

Danny's cock was rigid, leaving Steve in absolutely no doubt that he wanted this, and Steve had to take a breath before he completely lost it. Meeting Danny's eyes again, he smiled, pleased at the heat in them, and then engulfed Danny's dick in his mouth in one smooth movement.

Danny hissed out a surprised gasp, one hand struggling to grip Steve's short hair as he fought for breath.

Steve would have smiled if he could; instead he suckled hard, lifting a hand to fondle Danny's balls as his tongue worked magic on very responsive flesh. Danny let out a delightful little noise as Steve found his frenulum and worked at it in a delicate way that he'd been told was impossible to resist.

"Oh, fuck, Steve!" Danny let out as he failed to resist, coming hard inside Steve's mouth , his hands tightening on Steve's scalp as he bucked into the climax like he'd been saving it up all month.

Danny's writhing was turning Steve on even more, and he finally licked off and smacked his lips as he crawled up Danny's body to kiss at his exhausted friend's face.

"Jesus… you killed me," Danny whispered. "And to think I fought against having you do that all this time."

"You see what you were missing now." Steve waggled his brows, and leaned back in to lick down Danny's jaw and nibble below one ear. "And… while I hate to ask, I'm kinda dying here too." Steve pressed his still eager erection into Danny's thigh.

"I think I can help you with that," Danny laughed, wriggling out from under Steve and pressing him down on the bed as he eyed his body hungrily. "Pretty impressive."

"Why, thank you," Steve answered proudly, wiggling his hips in the hopes of getting some friction.

"I was talking about your restraint, not the size of your cock, sailor. I'm talking about the fact that you didn't just roll me over while I was still high from the blowjob; it says something for your self-control."

"As if I'd do that to you," Steve protested, even as he attempted to push Danny off, "but now that you mention it, can you please…?"

"You want me to suck it?"

"Oh, God, would you?" Steve could hear the need in his own voice, even around his surprise that Danny was offering.

"Oh, yeah," Danny said, and then he was letting go of Steve's hands and shifting down to take Steve's hardness into his mouth.

Now it was Steve's turn to offer up expletives as Danny went to work. Steve hadn't imagined Danny had sucked cock before – despite the implication that he'd been with men in his past – but he was clearly more than capable; he seemed to be enjoying himself as much as Steve was, going by the look in his eyes as he gazed up Steve's body.

"Christ!" Steve let out as his orgasm hit, pushing Danny back so that come dribbled out of his mouth as the last of it spurted from Steve's cock. "Danny, Danny…"

Danny reached for Kleenex, wiping the last of Steve's juices from his mouth as he moved back over Steve and plastered himself to his chest. "Worth it, babe?"

"Totally," Steve managed, pulling Danny in for one more kiss.

"Sorry I was such a hold-out," Danny offered, rubbing at Steve's jaw and gazing thoughtfully into his eyes. "I've been fighting this for far too long. I just didn't think it was a good idea, no matter what I was feeling for you."

Steve snorted in surprise. "What you were feeling for me? Then… all of this; we could have been _here_ , doing this a long time ago?" 

"I'm sorry," Danny repeated, and Steve could see he meant it. "You had Catherine; I was with Gabby, and I had Grace to think about; all the complications that could have come up – still could, you know – and I just… I thought it was easier if we kept it the way it was. Then you had to go and kiss me." 

"You mean all that bullshit was just that? You've been interested way longer than I thought?"

Danny shook his head, but not in denial this time. "You got me."

Steve studied him for a moment, seeing the truth in Danny's eyes.

"You got me too, babe." 

~//~

END

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone reading along! Sorry it took all six days to get it posted, but it does at least allow me to do other things each day if I post this way. You guys are the best! ♥


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